Go ahead — make someone’s day!

We all know what this world is like right now — filled with hatred, accusations, lies, betrayal, bigotries, prejudices, and a total lack of trying to understand each other.

Actually, the world has always been this way, it’s just that now it’s us who are experiencing just how awful human beings can be to one another.

Yet, the world is full of the little things, the acts of people who, without fanfare, slanted news coverage, or seeking compensation, make someone’s day in the simplest of ways.

That can be done by allowing a car to enter a busy street, or if you’re on the other end of such a kind gesture, giving a wave of thanks and a smile.

It can be done by simply holding a door for someone (remember when that was commonplace?).

It can be done with a simple “please,” “thank you,” or “you’re welcome.”

I repeat, it doesn’t take much. I think that’s because it doesn’t happen all that often, and when it does, it means something.

Last weekend I was out shopping and picked up a three-pack of cheap reading glasses — you know the ones, the ones that actually help you see better than the pair you paid hundreds of dollars for.

I have a tendency to lose glasses often, so a three-pack seemed logical, especially since it went for a whopping $2.99.

I went to the checkout and at the register was a teen-ager — wearing glasses. She said, “Wow, that’s a great price for three pairs of glasses.” “Right?” I said.

She told me her glasses were prescription, and if she takes them off, she can barely make out anything. “I’m blind,” she chuckled halfheartedly. Still with the glasses removed, she asked me, “Do I look blind without them?” I responded, “What? No, of course not (she didn’t).”

“People tell me I do.” I was flabbergasted. She was a bright, lovely young woman, yet I could tell this world has already made her feel less than adequate.

She continued, “Do you think I’ll go completely blind?” I asked if she has seen an eye doctor, and she said yes. I asked if he said she was losing her sight. She said no. “Then you will not go blind.”

She lit up like a Christmas tree. She probably knew the answer already, but I think she needed to hear it from someone. That someone was me.

She put her glasses back on and completed my transaction. Then she smiled and said, “You know, if I do go blind, I’m going to come looking for you.”

I looked her square in her lovely eyes and said, “Then I could stand right in front of you and you wouldn’t find me.” Not expecting that response, she burst into laughter.

We both did.

She sent me off with a gleeful “Have a great day.” I could tell by her tone I had already made hers.